Steering-engine



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(NoModemV J-. Bl LOWELL. STEERING ENGINE,

No. 420,162. Patented Jan. 28, 1890.

N, PETERS Prwwuthagnphenwumngmn. n. C.

(No Model.) y 2 sheets-sheet 2.

' J. B. LOWELL.

STEERING ENGINE.

Nol 420,162. r` Patsnt'ed Jan. 28,1890.

Messes.-

UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN BURNETT LOWELL, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

STEERING-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters iPatent No. 420,162, dated January 28, 1890.

Application nea February 14,1889. serial No. 299,879. (Numdam To c/,ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN BURNE'rr LOWELL, i of the city of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful I'mprovement in Steering-Engines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to steering-engines to be operated by steam or other fluid under pressure.

It consists in a novel valve-gear, hereinafter described and claimed, operated in part by the steersman through a handwvheel or equivalent device and in part by the engine itself, but controlled by the steersman, Whereby, on bringing the said wheel or device to a certain position, the engine will be caused to move the rudder to an exactly corresponding position.

Figure 1 in the drawings is a longitudinal ing the valve o by hand.

vertical sectional view of a steering-engine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is an end view of the same. Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating the movement of the valve-gear.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in the several gures.

A is the engine-cylin der, arranged horizontally on a bed-frameA and intended to be placed athwart the vessel. B is the piston working in said cylinder, and having a rod C, which projects through both ends of the t cylinder, and has its ends connected with the rudder by chains or other suitable connections, t'vhich may be such as are commonly employed for the purpose.

I have represented at the left-hand end of the rod a partof a system of chains which I propose to employ.

The chain I),Which is shown in dotted outline, is connected with a crosshead E on the rod, and thence passes over a sheave a, occupying a fixed position near the side of the vessel, thence returns under the said sheave to and under a sheave l), carried by the crosshead E, thence returns over the latter sheave to and over a sheave c in front of c., and thence downward and under a sheave (7 whence it passes along the vessel to the tiller. The crosshead E runs on iXed horizontal guides F F. The other end of the pistorrrod is of course connected with the tiller on the opposite side by a similar chain; but this I have not thought it necessary to show. This system of chains multiplies the movement produced by the piston, so that a tiller of cou'- siderable length may have the requisite movement given to it by an engine of short stroke.

G is the valve-chest. V is the valve; ff', the induction-ports of the cylinder, and g the eduction-port. t is the induction-pipe, ande the education-pipe. These valve, valve-chest,

and ports may be such as are common to re ciprocating steam-engines but the valve represented, and which I propose to employ, is the Well-known hollow balanced piston-slide valve, and needs no particular description.

I will now describe the valve-gear, which constitutes the most essential part of my inf y vention. Y

H is a hand-controlled lever for operat- This lever has a 'fixed fulcrurn h, (representedas supported in a stand h erected on the cylinder.) This lever is to be connected with the hand-gear ofthe steering apparatus, which may be of any suitable kind; but I propose generally to use :as such hand-gear a Wheel like an ordinary steeringlwheehthough it maybe much smaller, and to connect the said lever H with said Wheel by ropes or chains such as are commonly used for steering, and I have represented parts of such chains at jj in Fig. l,connected With said lever. I is a second lever, pivoted at la to a short link Z, which is pivoted at Z to the hand-controlled lever Il. The lower end of this lever I is also pivoted at lo to the stem V of the valve V and its upper end is connected by a pivot k2 and a'rod fm with the short arm n of the rock-shaft n, Which is supported in bearings in tWo fixed standards J on the bed-frame A The said rock-shaft has a longer arm n2, which is connected by a short rod or link o with an arm p, rigidly attached to the cross-head E. When the rudder is in its central position, the piston B of the steering-engine is at the middle of its stroke, and the valve V is in its central position, closing both the ports ff of the cylinder, as shownin Fig. l. lVhen the rudder is to be turned in either direction, the hand-controlled lever H 'is moved by hand in the corresponding direction toa certain position and there stopped, and the said lever in said movement, operating through the link Z on the valve-lever I, moves the said lever upon the pivot k2 as a fulcrum, as illustrated by the diagram, Fig. 4, in which the unbroken lines represent the position of the parts corresponding with Fig. l, and the dotted outlines represent them in the position last described. This movement gives the valve a certain movement and a certain amount of opening, and thereby admits steam to the cylinder through the port f or f', according to the direction of the movementthe port f according to the diagram. The piston now commences to move and to move the rudder, and at the same time operates through the cross-head E the arm p, rod o, arm n.2, rock-shaft n, arm n', and rod m, and causes the valve-lever I to move on the pivot k as a fulcrum, and thus to move the valve in the opposite direction to that in which it had previously been moved by the handcontrolled lever, and so to close it and shut the steam within the cylinder at both ends. The steam thus inclosed holds the piston in the cylinder against movement in either direction, and so holds the rudder rmly, yet by reason of its natural elasticity so holds it that it may yield sumciently to prevent it or the steering-gear being carried away or broken by a sea striking it. The piston and the rudder Aarethus held until the hand-controlled lever H is moved by the steersman. To bring the rudder back to its central position, it is `only necessary to bring kthe hand-controlled lever H to its central position to open the valve to admit steam to the opposite side of the piston to which it had previously been admitted. The piston will then return and will produce the closing of the valve when it arrives at its central position.

In the above operation the piston is always moved a definite distance, according to the movement of the hand-controlled lever H by the steersman, as the farther the said lever is moved and the more opening given by it to the valve the farther the piston moves before closing it; hence the steersman can always move the valve exactly the distance to bring the rudder to a certain position. Bya proper proportion of the lever H the tiller, the steering-wheel, and their connections the movements of the steering-wheel and of the tiller may always be the same number of degrees of a circle, and in such case the position of the steering-wheel will indicate exactly the position of the rudder. The movement of the valve which the steersman has to make can be made almost instantaneously, and the steam thus admitted very promptly gives the pist-on the Whole movement necessary for the movement of the rudder.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, in a steering-engine, with a cylinder, a piston working therein, and a valve for controlling the admission of steam to said cylinder, of a hand-controlled lever for opening said valve, a valve-lever, a linkconnection between said valve -lever and hand-controlled lever, and a connection between said valve-lever and the piston, wholly independent of the hand-controlled lever, for the purpose of closing the said valve by the movement of the piston, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. The combination, with the cylinder A, piston B, piston-rod O, and valve V, of the handcontrolled lever H, the lever I, connected with the valve, the link-connection Z between the two levers, and the rock-shaft 7i, having arms n n2, one connected with the piston-rod and the other with the lever I, all substantial] y as and for the purpose herein set forth.

JOHN BURNETT LOVELL.

Vitnesses: y

E. F. FLAHEY, JOHN HUBERT. 

